


Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

by Lobstercola



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: AU - Human, Drinking, Eventual Smut, F/M, F/M violence, Fighting, Fluff and Angst, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-13 04:16:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5694385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lobstercola/pseuds/Lobstercola
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I know where this story is supposed to be going but it's started off in a weird place. There are lots of fanfics where Marianne is the weaker of the two, but I wanted to do something where she was the powerful one, so this is what came out of that. I have a lot more of this story in my head so if  people are interested in it I will definitely update it. :) </p>
<p>I have read all the stories, most more than once in this fandom so if I accidentally incorporate small parts of someone else's idea please let me know so I can tag them!</p>
<p>This is the first time I've ever written Fan fiction in my life, so if it's terrible, I'm sorry in advance.</p>
<p>Hope you enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

Bog took another shot of whiskey and then raised his fingers to signal for another. How many had he had at this point? He had lost count after 10. ‘Good thing I can hold my liquor’, he thought. ‘Good thing I don’t care actually.’ He sighed heavily and stared at the coaster he was fiddling with, watching his long fingers twirl it around like they weren’t even his. 

“You know what, fuck you!” He jumped a bit and then turned around to see a woman yelling at a blonde man as she yanked her small hand away from his grip.

“Come on Marianne! It was one time! Don’t be like that buttercup!” He tried to grab her again and she pulled away violently.

“I don’t care Roland! Once was enough. You’re a cheating, chattering waste of space and I never want to see you again, you son of a bitch!” As she turned away from him the blond idiot made the mistake of trying to grab her arm again. The woman whipped around and punched him square in the face. He fell back and hit the floor like a dead weight.

‘That’s my cue to leave’ Bog thought, and then he slapped some money on the bar and got up to leave. As he pulled his leather jacket on his long sleeve accidently smacked the back of the small woman’s head. She spun around suddenly and he got a quick flash of large, fiery amber eyes and then a small fist smashed into his jaw.

“What the fuck?!” Bog shouted as he grabbed his face, but then he was suddenly punched again, this time in the gut. 

“Don’t touch me asshole!” the woman shouted angrily.

Bog’s instincts kicked in with the second punch and he swung out and punched the woman in the face. Her head snapped back while Bog’s expression changed from rage to horror as he realized what he did. “I’m…I’m so sorry!” he said as he held his hands up. “I didn’t mean to, I just reacted….?” He trailed off as she brought her face back around to stare at him. As she wiped the blood away from her mouth, a feral smile began to slowly spread across her face.

“Finally, a challenge!” she said, grinning widely. Before he could even process what that meant another small fist was swinging towards his face again. He dodged the punch, and swung at her again with his eyebrows furrowed and a frown stretching down his long face. 

“I don’t want to fight you, you crazy woman!” He yelled back at her.

“Too bad,” she said, “because I’m going to fight you so you better fight back if you want to survive!” as she swung another punch towards his head. He feigned to the right to avoid it.

The music changed in the bar to Nickelback’s "Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting" and Bog swore. Some idiot in the bar must have put it on with the jukebox.

As the woman swung at him again Bog’s hand shot out and he caught her fist with his long fingers, pushed it away, took one look at her angry-happy face and said “fuck it”. The large amount of alcohol in his system was the primary decision maker as he swung his other fist towards her face. She dodged it and laughed loudly.

They started sparring, throwing fists and insults back and forth while the rest of the bar stood well out of the way, placing bets on the winner. 

As they danced around each other Bog managed to get in another punch to her face before she landed one on his left shoulder. “Is that all you got?” she laughed out manically as she ducked under his swinging fist. “He growled in response and dodged her answering swing. “I was nae really prepared for this you crazy wench!” He spat at her as her fist swung for his face again. Bog punched her in the ribs in retaliation but was rewarded with a hard punch in the gut before she darted forward, used her leg to kick his out from under him and the world tilted. He hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him and was left staring at the dark ceiling in the bar.

He felt a small foot stomp on his chest for a minute and the crazy woman shouted “Victory Bitches!” as she looked down at him with a wide smile. The bar erupted in excited hooting and hollering and people started to exchange money, some looking much more pleased than others. 

Bog remained on the floor for a bit, panting as he attempted to catch his breath. A small hand was thrust into his sight line and he looked up to see the woman who beat him to a pulp smiling at him while also breathing heavily. He glared at her hand until she said “come on, let me by you a drink. You deserve it for that fight!” He looked confused as he took her hand and then suddenly he was on his feet. ‘Wow she’s strong’ Bog thought as he continued to look at her with his mouth gaping open. 

She pushed him up to the bar and shouted “two beers, Sam!” at the bartender. “Take the damage out of my tab too, okay?” The bartender just winked at her and began grabbing the beers.

“My name is Marianne! What’s yours?” He looked over at her expectant face and replied “b...Bog?” She laughed and slapped him on the back. “Nice to meet you Bog! Thanks for helping me out tonight. I would have murdered Roland if you hadn’t helped me blow off some steam! Speaking of Roland, I wonder where he got to?” Marianne said as she scanned the bar. “He must have scurried off to lick his wounds or something. He is such a coward!” she scoffed.

Bog just starred at the strange woman sitting beside him as she began texting on her phone. She had short, wild looking chocolate brown hair, wide liquid amber eyes and was petite and delicate looking. ‘Almost fairy-like’ he thought. He winced when he accidently rotated his shoulder. ‘Looks can be deceiving though, she is the furthest thing from delicate’. He grimaced as he remembered her right hook.

Marianne suddenly groaned loudly. “Crap! I have to go! I didn’t realize what time it was and I have to be somewhere. Sorry!” She grabbed her beer, took a swig and then grabbed her jacket from somewhere that Bog missed. “Bye, thanks again!” she said, throwing him a quick smile as she zipped out the door. 

Bog just starred towards the doorway she departed from, his face a mixture of confusion and astonishment. 

‘That was the weirdest thing that’s happened to me in awhile’ he thought, as he turned back to his consolation prize for losing the fight. He looked at his phone and groaned. ‘Crap, it’s after 1am and I have an interview tomorrow. I better take off’. Bog grabbed his jacket off the floor where it had been tossed during the brawl and headed out the door and into the night.


	2. The interview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An odd interview. Dawn is introduced. 
> 
> I got the Lyrics for “You Really Got Me” by Van halen from this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af1jxva2a2s 
> 
> Enjoy!

Bog woke up to the sound of his alarm blasting out “You Really Got Me” by Van Halen

“Girl, you really got me now…You got me so I don’t know what I’m doin’…..Girl, you really got me now. You got me so I can’t sleep at night…..Girl, you really got me now. You got me so I don’t know where I’m goin’. Yeah......Oh yeah, you really got me now. You got me so I can’t sleep at night!

You really got me. Oh! You really got me! Whoa-oh! You really got me!.....”

He turned if off with a groan. Wow was he sore. Sore and tired. He had tossed and turned all night, dreaming of fiery brown eyes and a wide, feral smile. He smiled at the memory and then winced as pain shot through his jaw much more vividly then the memory. He groaned again as he rubbed his jaw. What was that all about last night? He had been really drunk so he didn’t remember too much. Just getting his ass handed to him by a little pixie of a woman and getting a free beer out of it. He thought he remembered her mentioning her name but he couldn’t remember it even if his life depended on it.

He sat up and his head gave a painful throb. Right. Painkillers, water and then coffee. He got off his bed and stumbled towards the kitchen, ducking his head slightly to get through the door frame.

As he was slowly sipping his hot coffee his mother walked into the kitchen and grabbed a coffee for herself. She was a short little woman dressed in her nurse’s uniform, with her small dark eyes glittering with excitement. “Morning Boggy!” She said cheerfully, “Are you excited for your interview this morning? You’re going to get this one for sure sweetie, I just know it!” She smiled widely at him. 

“Come on Ma…” he muttered in response, “You know I’m not qualified for this job. I don’t know why I even got an interview. I’m only going because there are no other jobs around at the moment and we really need the money.”

Bog’s mother scoffed at him before saying “Really now, Bog! They would be fools not to hire you, love! You’re a wonderful worker! Remember how well you did when you worked for your father…” she trailed off and her face fell as she looked down at her coffee cup, going quiet for a bit. Bog frowned.

’It has been six months since he passed and she still can’t mention him without crying,’ he thought. 

She sniffed quietly and mumbled “what are we going to do if you don’t get this one? We will probably lose the apartment and I can’t get any more hours at the hospital to cover the bills. I don’t know what we’ll do….” Bog walked over to his mother and gave her a squeeze around her shoulders, kissing the top of her frizzy red hair at the same time. “Don’t worry Ma, I’m sure they will take one look at all this and hire me on the spot!” He gestured to himself with a dopey grin, still in his pajama pants with rumpled black hair and stubbly face, bruises colouring his face, shoulder and abdomen. 

She barked out a laugh at that, which made Bog smile for a moment, until she started narrowing her eyes at him. Her smiled transformed into a concerned frown. “What happened to you?” She shouted anxiously at him. “Why are you covered in bruises?? What did you do last night?”

”Don’t worry Ma, I’m fine.” he said as he gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Just got in a little disagreement with someone at the bar last night. Got a free beer out of it though!” He smiled broadly at her and she just snorted and swatted at him. 

“Doesn’t look like a little disagreement… Did the other guy come out looking the same?” she asked. 

“The other….guy….right. Yeah, I think I got a couple of good punches in. He was huge too, Ma! You should have seen him! Taller than me by at least a foot!” Bog lifted his hand up in the air trying to exaggerate his opponents’ height to his mother. “And super huge too! I bet he was a professional wrestler!”. His mother just glared at him in disbelief and said “Bog, no one is taller than you. Sounds pretty made up to me.” Bog’s eyes widened innocently as he said “I swear Ma, that’s exactly what happened!” and nodded his head furiously. “I have to go get ready for my interview now. Talk to you later! Have a nice day at work! Wish me luck!” Bog rushed off to the bathroom after dropping a kiss on his mother’s cheek.

\--------------------------------

Bog walked into a large room full of people and paused at the doorway sucking in a shocked breath. There was a long table with chairs all around it. On one side of the room there was a long mirror, at the front, a large TV screen that spanned the entire wall. The room was filled with what looked like high powered business people; all dressed in expensive looking suits, with polished hairstyles, all holding tablets. They looked like they were interviewing to become CEO of some major corporation or something. Bog felt his face heat up slowly as he looked down at his much less impressive dress shirt and jeans. To give him credit though, it was his nicest shirt and the jeans were only faded, not full of holes like all his other ones. It’s been a long time since he was able to afford new clothes. He preferred other luxuries, such as food and electricity. Clothing was pretty low on the priority list. At least he had his dad’s old leather jacket (left at home so he could look more ‘professional’. Not that that mattered anymore. He looked like a homeless person compared to the rest of these people). ‘A beat up homeless person’ he thought as he rubbed the large bruise on his jaw and winced.  
He looked down at the folded up piece of paper that he had in his pocket. 

Wanted: Assistant to CEO  
• Must be able to perform odd duties, follow directions extremely well with very little direction.  
• Exceptional problem solving skills required.  
• Must be comfortable with being on call at all hours of the day.  
• Experience with business practices preferred.  
• Post Secondary Degree in business preferred.  
• Must be strong willed and be able to work with difficult personalities. 

Excellent pay and benefits for the right candidate!!  
Please email dfaye@fayeandfaye.com to fill out an application.

Written below in his own writing was the date and time of the interview:  
Monday @ 10:00am. 1127 Main Street South. 21st Floor, room 2101.

He was surprised that he even got a call back for the interview, since he didn’t know over half of the skills that the on-line application asked him about. He had filled it out on an impulse. He knew he didn’t have any experience being anyone’s assistant or with business practices, but he could definitely hold his own in an argument, which he figured would count as being “strong willed and able to work with difficult personalities.”

A little blonde-haired woman walked into the room and asked everyone to be seated. Bog took a seat in the back of the room, trying to avoid the looks he was getting from all the other candidates. ‘Whatever’, he thought to himself, ‘who cares what they all think, maybe the CEO is looking for a tall homeless looking guy!’ He chuckled to himself and then sighed. He obstinately decided not to make eye contact with anyone else, instead focusing on the woman at the front. ‘At least she’s not wearing a suit’ he thought. She was dressed in a pink dress, with pick flowers in her hair. Her hair was short and fluffy, and her smile was as bright as a light bulb. Bog squinted slightly.

“Hi everyone! I’m Dawn Faye! I will be conducting this group interview today. There will be a short presentation on the company and then everyone will be given a series of tasks to complete in the course of one hour. I will be walking around during this time and if I tap you on the shoulder I am indicating that you did not make the cut. If you are tapped please leave your tablet where it is, collect your belongings and then leave the room. Does anyone have any questions before we begin? Okay great! Let’s begin the presentation!”

At the end of the 10 minute video Bog gulped. He had had no idea exactly which company he was applying to. The ad hadn’t been very specific. This was a multi-billion dollar event organizing company called Faye & Faye Entertainment and Events. They had several large venues, their own organic farm that all their catering ingredients came from, their own green houses….hell they had everything they would need to plan anything under the sun! No wonder everyone was dressed so fancy, the pay for this position must be astronomical! Bog frowned and his eyebrows scrunched together. Now that he knew what he was getting himself into he realized that he had no chance of even being looked twice at. He considered walking out briefly, and then thought ‘the hell with that! I dragged my ass all the way down here; I might as well do the stupid tasks and let Ma know that I tried at least.’

“Does everyone have a tablet?” The interviewer, Dawn, asked then, interrupting his internal rambling.

Bog raised his hand and when she looked over at him he just shook his head. “No problem! They are on the table behind you. Go ahead and grab one!” Bog turned around and saw the pile of tablets. As he headed over he thought ‘wow that girl is way too cheerful. I really hope I don’t end up working with her. I might throw up’ before he caught himself and mentally scolded himself ‘as if you’re going to get this job dumbass! You are so under qualified you are lucky you were let into the room with these people! You will probably be the first one tapped!’ He sighed, grabbed a tablet and sat back down.

All the tasks involved either problem solving questions, prioritizing lists of tasks or matching things and ideas together. “Nothing is right or wrong” Dawn said, “just answer the best you can.” As Bog entered his answers he noticed that Dawn would occasionally put her hand up to her ear while she walked around and nod. Shortly after a nod she would slip up behind a candidate and tap him or her on the shoulder. Each rejected candidate would look up unhappily and then get up and leave quietly. Bog shook his head and looked back down to his tablet. ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ the thought as he tapped his responses into the tablet’s screen.

A while later Bog decided to look up. These questions were taking forever and they were so boring! He was startled to find out that he was one of only 3 people left in the room. ‘How did that happen?’ he thought in shock. ‘There is no way I beat out all of those other people! I have no idea what I’m doing!’ he swallowed roughly and looked back down at the tablet. There was only one question left:

“If your supervisor ordered you to do something that you knew was the wrong move, based on facts that you had, how would you respond?”

He thought about it as he looked up and saw Dawn tap one of the other two people left on the shoulder. ‘wow, it’s down to me and that other guy! That’s crazy!’

Bog wrote in his response: “I’d suggest that my supervisor reconsider the decision and make the correct one, which I would then back up with said facts.”

His screen went black for a moment and then words began typing across it. 

“What if your supervisor told you that you were an idiot and didn’t know what you were talking about?” the screen prompted.

He thought about it for only a moment and then decided ‘what the hell. Honesty has gotten me this far…’ “I would probably tell said supervisor to shove it. In a completely professional manner of course.” He hit the enter button with a snarky grin on his face.

His screen went blank again and then the words “And if they called you an arrogant jackass who was so thick-headed that you wouldn’t know the right decision if it smacked you in the face?” were typed quickly on to the screen.

Bog laughed once out loud. ‘This has to be a real person, there is no way my answers can prompt these responses’, he thought. ‘I wonder if they are watching us from behind the mirror’. He looked up and starred at the mirror for a moment, smiled wickedly and then looked back down at the tablet and began typing: 

“There is a good chance I would punch the git!” 

He hit the enter button and then looked up smugly towards the mirror.

There was silence again for a moment and then he looked over to see Dawn starring at him with her hand over her ear. She slowly grinned at him and then walked over to the last candidate (who looked extremely nervous and Bog was pretty sure he was sweating) and tapped him on the shoulder. The guy’s face visibly paled and then he got up and left.

“Congratulations!” Dawn said excitedly,” you got the job!” 

He looked up at her dumbfounded and stared at her for a moment with his mouth open. “Really?” he asked. 

Dawn laughed. “Yes, really, Silly! You start on tomorrow at 9:00am. Here is the address where you will be reporting for your first day”, said as she pressed a piece of paper into his hand, “Wear something comfortable because you will most likely be doing some manual labor. The CEO will go over everything with you then. She is very private and likes to go over everything with her assistant in person so she will be going over your salary, hours and employment contract then.“

“Okay…” he said, as he watched her begin to leave the room. “Oh, wait! Ms. Faye? What is the CEO’s name?” Dawn turned back, smiled at him again and said “Marianne. Marianne Faye”.

“Thank you,” he said, as she walked away.

Marianne….where had he heard that name before?


	3. You!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got the lyrics from “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf43LCtGrj4 
> 
> Enjoy!

Bog walked up to a boring looking strip mall, eyeing the small businesses nestled in each space. There was a dentist’s office, an optometrists office, a lawyer’s office and one blank-windowed space with a sign that stated "leased by private owner". He stopped in front of the unnamed business and then looked down and checked the paper in his hand. 'Yep, right place. It looks really weird. Odd place to report to on my first day… I hope this isn't some sort of prank', he thought.

He turned the knob and then pushed at the front door. It opened easily into a small white front office. The walls were stark white, the floors were white tile and even the small desk to his left was white, with a medium-sized white box on top of it. There was a bright pink sign that said 

"Welcome Mr. Boggart King! Please review your new employee package contained in the box. Once you have reviewed everything you may proceed into the second room. Have a great first day!!  
-Dawn Faye

Bog snorted at the sign and shook his head slightly in exasperation. 'How was that woman so disgustingly cheery when she wasn't even here? Though, she may be in the other room, waiting to ambush him with more overbearing sweetness after he's done going through his intro package.’ He grimaced at that thought, sighed and then headed over to the desk.

Within his welcome box he found a brand new iPhone, laptop and a shiny new Visa card with his name on it. Underneath it all there was a document that looked to be several pages long, with “Faye & Faye Entertainment and Events: New Employee Contract” typed across the top of it in bold. He sat down and began to read the document while playing with the Visa card in his left hand. 

The contract mentioned the regular things that most contracts contained, including confidentiality policies and how he wasn’t permitted to disclose important information to any of their competitors (not a problem, he didn’t even know any of them). It was the last two pages that trapped his gaze. It had his job duties outlined ‘assist the CEO, take care of the CEO’s schedule, perform other duties as required….blah, blah, blah….!’ Bog froze and then his job dropped open as he read the final page:

Salary: $250,000/year plus annual bonus.

Benefits: %100 Full coverage for him and up to 4 people (it didn’t even say he had to be related to him!) 

Vacation: 6 weeks paid per year

Company Property Issued: 

Company Credit Card: No Limit. To be used for any expenses incurred that are directly or indirectly related to performing required duties. 

Company Vehicle: Provided for work and personal use. 

Company Phone: Must be reachable 24 hours a day by the CEO.

Company Laptop: For work and personal use.

“Holy Shit!” he said out loud in shock. ‘This can’t be real. I’m definitely being pranked. Or maybe this CEO is a total bitch to work for or something’, he contemplated. ‘Oh well, might as well go along with it. What’s the worst that can happen? Either a TV crew jumps out and shouts that I’ve just been punk’d or my new boss is a horrible she-demon from hell and I’ll just quit.’ Bog sighed as he shoved the new phone and credit card into his pockets and headed over to the second door. ‘Well, here goes nothing…’he thought as he turned the knob and walked into the next room.

His ears were assaulted by loud blasting music as he blinked and took in the room. It was very large, much larger then it looked when he saw the building outside. The wall furthest from the door was brick from floor to the ceiling; the floor soft but firm, like a workout mat. There was various gym equipment littered along the sides of the space framing a large boxing ring in the middle of the floor. In the centre of the ring hung a boxing bag, swinging violently as it was being destroyed by a small person wearing boxing gloves. The person, (a woman, he realized) was dancing around the bag singing to the music as she alternated between hitting and kicking it.

“What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter! Footsteps even lighter! Doesn’t mean I’m over cause you’re gone! you stronger! What doesn’t kill you makes your stronger! Stronger! Just me, myself and I! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger! Stand a little taller! Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone!”

The song ended and the woman stopped, leaning over and bracing herself on her knees, breathing in heavy pants of exertion. She looked up and saw him then. Scowling, she sighed unhappily and then abruptly turned her back to him and began untying her boxing gloves as she exited the ring.

“You must be my new assistant” the woman said, sneering over the word ‘assistant’ as she walked over to him, getting shorter the closer she came to him. ‘Geez, she only comes up to my chest!’ Bog thought to himself as he frowned down at her. She did not look happy to see him. ‘Really, though when was any woman happy to see him?’ he thought darkly to himself. His brows furrowed slightly and he frowned back at the tiny angry looking lady in front of him. As he starred at her he felt a small flicker of recognition. ‘Have I met her before?’ he wondered briefly to himself before a small hand was thrust towards him aggressively, interrupting his thoughts.

“Marianne. CEO of Faye & Faye and the chick that Dawn hired you to babysit for the foreseeable future”. 

Bog raised his eyebrows at the odd introduction, eyeing her hand for a moment before he clasped it back and replied “Bog King, your new sitter, apparently…” 

She pumped his arm up and down a few times, her frown replaced with a small grin as she looked at him with amusement.

“Want a coke?” Marianne asked as she whipped around and quickly disappeared through an opening in the wall that he had missed during his first sweep of the room. He hesitated for a moment to see if she was going to come back and then headed in after her, trying to think of where he had seen her before.

The small kitchen he entered was immaculate, full of high end appliances and a solid oak table where she sat with two cans of coke in front of her. ‘Wow’, he thought to himself, ‘I could buy a new car with the amount of money it probably cost to outfit this place! Oh, wait…apparently I have a new car…’ Bog smiled slightly at that thought and headed over to sit down with his new boss. 

Marianne slid the can of coke over to him and he caught it with one long hand. 

He studied her for a moment while she busied herself with opening her can and taking a long gulp of the bubbly beverage.

She was petite but in extremely good shape. Her tank top and shorts were form fitting and showed off the muscles in her arms and legs. ‘Her face is almost fairy-like in appearance’ he thought, as that flicker of recognition flared up again. He studied her short wild brown hair framing her face and her dark smoky eyes trying to will his brain into remembering where he had seen her before. ‘She’s pretty good-looking’, the thought, ‘how in the hell would I know someone like her? It’s not I spend much time with good looking women. They usually avoid me’, he thought bitterly, frowning slightly. 

“So, you are probably wondering why you’re here, huh?” 

Bog’s eyes darted to hers in surprise and he was distracted from his efforts to prod his mind for information. ‘Maybe this IS all a joke?’ he thought, nervously tapping his coke can with his finger tips as he waited for her to continue. 

“You probably expected to meet the illustrious CEO of the company in a big corporate office, on the top floor of a huge, important looking building I suppose.” She paused to take a swig of her coke. “I’m not like that. Yes, I’m the CEO, but the company runs most of its day-to-day dealings on its own at this point. I get to choose how involved I am with every level. Some days I will be at one of our venues, others I’ll spend at the farm or in the greenhouse. I’m mostly only needed to sign off on important documents, show up to fabulous events and to inspire our employees to ‘keep the magic’ in our services,” She said, making quotation marks with her fingers when she said ‘keep the magic’. “I used to be more involved with the corporate side of things before the ‘misunderstanding’ (more signed quotation marks), but now…” she trailed off, watching his fingers tap his drink as she ran her own through her short hair, “I let Dawn take care of most of that stuff”.

She shook herself, looked at him and quirked her mouth up slightly in an attempt at a smile. “It doesn’t matter, anyways. Your primary job, why Dawn made me hire you, is to ‘make sure I don’t kill certain people, cut myself off from all company events and creep employees out by showing up out of the blue and breathing down their necks as they work’.” More fingered quotation marks. 

‘She sure does that a lot’ he thought watching her fingers wriggle up and down. 

“Apparently I have become too aggressive and unstable, which is ‘damaging to the company image’” she air-quoted. 

He stifled a chuckle and covered his mouth at the fourth use of finger quotations. 

“What?” she asked, with an annoyed edge to her question. 

“Sorry, it’s just funny how many air quotes (he demonstrated by air-quoting when he said air quotes) you’ve used in this conversation so far.” He grinned at her in amusement. 

“Not the brightest idea to make fun of your new boss on your first day, Bog” she shot back at him, wiping the grin from his face.

“Ah, sorry. Sorry. You were saying?” He gestured for her to continue. 

She glared at him for a moment before continuing. “So anyways, that’s pretty much the gist of it. I’m usually here most mornings so this is where we will meet. Then we will go about our day. If I need you to meet me somewhere different I’ll text you. You got your phone from the front room, right?” she asked. When he nodded she continued. “Great. I’ve never had an assistant before, so I guess we will see how this goes. No offence or anything, but I’m only trying this out because my sister begged me too. I’m not sure what she thought this would accomplish though…” she trailed off taking another gulp of coke.

“Your sister?” Bog asked.

“Yeah, Dawn Faye. Blonde girl that hired you yesterday. Did you think it was coincidence that we had the same name?” She said a bit sarcastically as she smirked at him.

Bog felt his neck heat up slightly in embarrassment as he replied with a weak “Oh. Yeah. Right” taking a nervous swallow from his coke. ‘Wow, she is the exact opposite of her sister’, he thought, remembering Dawn with a slight shudder. Ugh.

“So, do you fight?” Marianne asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. 

“What?” He asked as he looked up in surprise. 

“Well you have those bruises on your face and you seem like you are in pretty good shape for a tall lanky guy (Bog frowned at that), so I thought maybe you might box or something. It would be great to have a sparring partner to help me work off all my pent-up energy. In fact, you kind of remind me of this guy I fought the other night…” she trailed off staring at him questioningly.

‘Wait a second’ he thought, as that feeling of recognition flared up in him again. He studied her face. She had bruises on her face as well… ‘and knuckles’, he thought as he looked down at her fists on the table. 

They made eye contact and were silent for a moment. Suddenly both sets of eyes lit up in recognition at the same time as their voices echoed together:

“YOU!”


	4. Changes Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bog discovers that he is attracted to Marianne in an unexpected way....
> 
> I was inspired to try my hand at romantic physical interactions (aka smut, just doesn't sound as nice) by EndoratheWitch - I don't know how to tag, sorry. You write such wonderful stories!
> 
> Let me know what you think. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!  
> ********************************************

"So you need to be there at 7:00pm on Saturday night”, Bog grunted and then dodged a punch aimed at his head, “It's formal wear also, so we need to go shopping to find you something that isn’t training related, a baggy t-shirt or ripped jeans."

Marianne growled and took another swipe at him with her boxing glove as she circled him in the ring.

Bog had been working for Marianne for about a month. He had quickly found out that his new job consisted mostly of sparring with her to help burn off her endless supply of anger and forcing her to do stuff she didn't want to do. Usually he would need to physically fight her to get her to agree to things. He was currently battling her so she would attend the 21st annual company gala. As CEO it was necessary for her to attend, give a speech and schmooze with the high end clients and the company’s employees. He was glad he didn’t have to go. Hell, it sounded horrible. He wasn’t going to admit that to her though.

He grunted as he dodged another swing and swung a hard left hook at her head. She ducked and smirked at him briefly before kicking her leg out, trying to trip him. Bog jumped back, avoiding the attack. "Nice try Tough Girl, but yer not getting me with that one again." She scowled and pulled back to circle him again, looking for an opening.

“Come on Marianne, it will be fun. There’s free booze!” He grinned widely at her when she stuck her tongue out at him.

While she was distracted with their conversation Bog darted out, caught her responding punch between both of his gloves and pulled her forward. She gasped as she lost her balance and he took the opportunity to knock her legs out from under her and her back hit the mat.

"Victory Bitches!!" Bog shouted, putting his foot lightly on her chest and grinning down at her with a triumphant and mischievous smile. He was quoting what she had said and done to him during their first meeting. By the death glare she was giving him he figured that she remembered.

"Ha, ha. Sooo funny. I was drunk, okay? At least you got a free beer out of it!" Marianne grumbled as he helped her to her feet. They were both dripping with sweat and panting heavily.

"I'm still not going. Good luck explaining your failure to Dawn. She will probably cry all over you. Maybe she will drown that look off your face with her torrential downpour."

He grimaced at the thought of dealing with Dawn before replying "come on Boss, you know if you don't cave Dawn will come and cry on you herself. Plus I could lose ma job!" Bog gasped dramatically, putting his palm on his chest and trying to look distraught.

Marianne looked at him and then snorted with humor, a reluctant smile spreading across her face.

"Ack! Fine, I'll go. But **you** have to go with me. I need you to stay next to me all night, in case I need to hit someone." Bog smirked, but before he could say thank you she continued, “ _and_ you need to wear a tuxedo!” His smile turned down and he grumbled “I guess we both need to go shopping then.” Marianne laughed.

“Wait, how do **you** know where to shop for fancy formal wear?” Marianne scoffed. “Say what you want about my wardrobe but from what I’ve seen of yours, I have very little confidence in your fashion tastes.”

Bog thought about it for a minute. It's true. he knew nothing about what would be considered appropriate attire for a gala. He could ask Dawn, but he knew she was extremely busy planning the event and she probably didn’t have the time to take them shopping. An idea came to him that made him grimace.  He sighed. “I can ask my mother, I guess…” he shuddered slightly at the thought of his mother in the same room as his new, extremely female boss. Every time he was in the same room with his mother and another female that she considered “eligible” she would embarrass him thoroughly with her matchmaking efforts.

“Wait, you have a mother?!” Marianne exclaimed in surprise.

“No, I just materialized into existence one day as a tall, angry looking scot.” He replied sarcastically.

Marianne rolled her eyes and then stuck her tongue out at him again. “Do you have any other family? I just realized that I don’t really know much about you…you could be an axe murderer!” she said, backing away slowly and starring at him in mock horror.

“No. Not here anyways. I have some distant relatives back in Scotland that I haven’t spoken to in years.”

“Do you have a father?” Marianne asked. “Well I guess you would have to have a father, but is he around?”

“I did. He died about 7 months ago.” Bog’s face fell and he suddenly looked miserable, all the good humor from their bantering draining away.

Marianne was quiet for a few moments before coming forward and placing a little hand lightly on his arm. “I’m sorry Bog, I didn’t mean to upset you by asking”, she said softly.

He looked up at her face in surprise, his eyes slightly misty. “No, its okay, you couldn’t have known. He was sick for a long time and it took a big toll on my mum and me. We were all really close before he passed.”

After a moment Marianne spoke softly again. “I lost both of my parents, It’s hard. I lost my mom when I was young, but my dad passed away just a few years ago, so I can relate to how you are feeling. If you ever need to talk….well....” Marianne patted his arm roughly and then pulled away, swinging her arms back and forth nervously.

“So now that that award conversation is out of the way…”she mumbled, clearly uncomfortable with any intense emotions that were outside of the anger department. Bog chuckled lightly at her poor attempt at changing the subject and reached out and tousled her short hair affectionately.

“Thanks Marianne.” He smiled at her crookedly.

Marianne froze at the casual contact. He had never touched her like that before, so casually In fact, no one touches her like that anymore. Not even Dawn is that brave any more after one too many fits she threw about personal space when Dawn tried to hug her. Bog usually only touched her to either restrain her from attacking someone or during their fighting when he would return her punches and kicks with his own. His smile made her chest feel funny.

She looked up at his face and blushed slightly. Bog must have seen something in her expression that unnerved him because his casual smile slowly disappeared and he stepped away from her quickly dropping his hand to his side. “Oh. Umm…Well…” he mumbled quietly, glancing down at the floor, his ears turning pink.

“Okay, so shopping with Mommy dearest, when do we go?” Marianne said with extreme cheerfulness, determined to get out of whatever was going on between them.

Bog furrowed his brows as he thought about it. “Well, she works part-time and I know she isn’t working tomorrow. I’ll ask her tonight and text you with the plan?” Bog asked her uncertainly.

“Great, sounds good! See you tomorrow!” Marianne chirped, her voice still full of exaggerated cheer.

“Okay….bye” Bog replied, backing towards the door and then when his back hit the wall his ears turned bright red and he darted out the door with a little wave in her direction.

Marianne sighed. “What was that all about?” She wondered to herself, touching the top of her head where a much larger hand had previously rested.

**********

Marianne danced around him in the ring, smiling her predatory smile, dripping with sweat. She was wearing a low cut, black, skin tight tank top. Her petite breasts were bouncing up and down as she moved. She was wearing shorts so short they could barely be classified _as_ shorts. He didn’t remember ever seeing her in them before. When had she gotten those? Her thighs were toned and glistened slightly in the low lighting. Bog licked his lips. God, how had he never noticed how incredibly sexy and hot she was? His gaze drifted up her toned body slowly, pausing briefly at her chest before he met her eyes. They were smoldering. He exhaled slowly in awe.

Suddenly she pounced on him, knocking him to the mat, straddling his hips, grinding down on him once. He gasped in surprise.

“I win.” She said in a husky tone. She leaned down to his ear and whispered “I want you Bog. I’ve been trying to fight my desire for you but I can’t do it anymore.” She darted her tongue across his earlobe and moaned. “You taste so good. I want _more_.”  His groin swelled immediately at her words and he shuddered with want as he wrapped his arms around her.

She started sucking and biting slowly down his neck and throat while grinding her hips into his. He groaned out her name as he involuntarily thrust his hips up into hers. He could feel the heat coming off of her groin, radiating into his own. Suddenly she sat up and pulled her top off with a wicked smile. Somehow his body managed to get even _hotter_ at the sight. He sat up with her in his lap and rolled her over so he could get his mouth over one of those perfect breasts. God, she tasted wonderful…he moaned and ground down between her hips with his own. The friction was amazing. He shuddered again when she gasped at the movement.

“Oh GOD Bog! **Yes**! You make me feel so good!”

…..Bog suddenly shot up in bed to the sound of his phone vibrating with a text on his night stand. He sat their panting for a moment completely disorientated. A dream. It was just a dream. It had seemed so _real._ He shook his head slightly and grabbed his phone. There was a text from Marianne:

3:23am

“Hey loser, just got your text. I’ll be ready at 10:00am. Bye! ; )”

He sighed and replied:

“K, sounds good. Try sleeping once in awhile, hey?”

“:P. Nighty, Night Bog!”

“Good Night Boss.”

He sighed and tossed his phone back on his nightstand, rolled over and tried to get comfortable despite the condition that his subconscious had left him in. _that was some dream_ , he thought to himself. She had felt so good against him, writhing on top of him…his hand drifted down to his groin. ‘Well, might as well take care of this or I’ll never be able to get back to sleep at this point. His thoughts drifted back to the erotic dream his mind had supplied as he stroked himself while groaning softly at the sensation.

Later, as he drifted off he thought to himself, _when had Marianne become so attractive? Oh well_ , he sighed sleepily, _I’m sure it’s just another fantasy. Last week I had an erotic dream about that girl at the coffee shop and I didn’t even talk her_.’

Despite his attempts at downplaying the dream he ended up falling asleep with Marianne at the forefront of his mind.


	5. Griselda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bog goes shopping with the two ladies in his life. :)

"Ma! Hurry up! It's already 9:45am and I told Marianne I'd pick her up at 10:00am!"

 Bog stood by his front door watching his mother scurry around the apartment getting ready. He sighed and then rolled his eyes at her fussing.

  "Okay, Okay, I have everything I need. Let’s go. I can't wait to help you and your new lady friend shop for your fancy outfits!”  Bog rolled his eyes again as his mother grinned widely at him.

 "She's my boss Mum, not ma lady friend! And don't you dare try any of your usual matchmaking stuff! I don't want to get fired because you couldn't keep your mouth shut!" Bog glared at her and scowled menacingly. His mother only smiled sweetly, patted his arm and walked out of their apartment. "No problem sweetie! I won’t say a thing. Now let's go. We don't want to keep the woman waiting!" Bog sighed as he locked the door and followed his mother out to the car. 

 He pulled up to Marianne's house at 10:15am and parked. Okay mum, stay here and I'll go get her. I won't be long.”

 "Okay sweetheart!" She said happily from the back seat. He was pretty sure she insisted on sitting in the back seat so she could ensure that he’d have to sit next to Marianne, but he was going to try and give her the benefit of the doubt this time. He sighed.

 "I'm going to regret asking her for her help today, I just know it." He muttered to himself as he walked up to Marianne's front door.

 She lived in a relatively small house, considering how wealthy he knew she was. He knocked on her front door and waited. After no response he knocked again. Still nothing. After the third knock and umpteen doorbell button presses in a row he grew impatient. _Geez, you better not still be sleeping_ , he thought as he got his copy of her house key out of his pocket and stuck it in the lock. 

 After he entered her home he shut the door and headed over to the alarm and disarmed it. "Marianne?" He called out, headed towards her bedroom. "You better not be in bed still! We need to go get you a dress today, and I’m not suffering through tux shopping by myself!"

 Her bedroom door was open and she was balled up under the covers. She was still sleeping. "Wake up you lazy bum!" He shouted, but she didn't reply. He walked right up beside her bed and looked down at her. She had ear phones in and the music was still blaring. Bog sighed and then reached down and shook her.

 Marianne bolted up in bed, screamed and then punched him in the gut. "Fuck!" He yelled, doubling over in pain. 

 "Bog? What are you doing here?" Marianne asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes. 

 "Shopping....mum...10:00am" he wheezed out, holding his stomach.

 Marianne's eyes widened as she remembered. "Oh, shit!" She shouted. "I can't believe I slept in!" She jumped out of bed, ran to the bathroom and then he heard the sound of the shower running. "I'll just be 5 minutes!" Marianne shouted out at him, her voice muffled slightly by the sound of running water. Bog didn't reply. He just collapsed into her bed with a pained huff and curled protectively around his torso. 

 Two minutes later he heard the running water shut off, some shuffling around and then Marianne laughing. "Oh come on you big baby! I didn't hit you that hard!"

 Bog groaned and looked up. Marianne was standing in a towel, dripping on her carpet. He sucked in a sharp breath and then looked down quickly, his ears turning red.  

 Marianne chuckled at his reaction. "I'm wearing a towel Bog, I'm not naked. Some women wear dresses smaller than this!"

 He looked up at her again with an irritated retort but froze as he stared at her in her towel. He felt a wave of heat surge though him and his pants suddenly felt too tight. _Fuck!_ He thought to himself as he quickly dropped his face into her pillow. _Really body? You're going to do this to me now? Come on!_ He shouted at himself in his head.

 "Hurry up, will you? My mum is still waiting in the car and this is her only day off for a week!" Bog said, scrambling for any excuse to get her to put some damn clothes on.

 Her eyes widened with guilt and she cursed and ducked in to her closet to get dressed. 

 As he was trying to will his erection away he noticed that her pillow smelled really good. He couldn't quite place the scent...floral, a little spicy...some vanilla...and a whiff of something musky that made his chest lurch and his groin throb in desire. He gulped and then jumped out of her bed and shook his head back and forth trying to clear it. _Stupid bed! you’re not helping a bit!_ He scolded the inanimate object internally. 

 "Marianne! I'm going back to the car to let mum know that I haven't died **and** that you're coming" he called in her general direction, heading through the house and out the front door quickly without waiting for a response. 

 He took a couple deep breaths of the cool morning air and tried to collect himself. _I really hope this isn’t going to be a regular thing now_ he thought as he glared down at his pants. _Why did she have to become so hot all of a sudden? Stupid dream!_ He scowled at the front lawn. 

  _Nothing will ever happen anyways_ , he thought to himself. S _he's my boss and I need this job! She only sees me as an annoying guy her sister hired to keep her in check, plus she is way out of my league. I'm way too hideous for someone like her. She could never want me._ Something in his chest twisted painfully at his thoughts and he sighed miserably as he headed back to the car.

 Marianne opened the passenger side car door and collapsed into the seat about 5 minutes later, panting from her rush to get ready. "Sorry I'm late!" She said as she buckled her seatbelt. 

 "That's fine dear! Things happen. Bog and I were late too." Marianne turned around to see a short, roundish older woman with frizzy red hair (held back from her face with a thin headband) grinning widely at her.

 "Marianne, meet my mum." Bog said, keeping his eyes on the road.

 "Griselda, my dear! Pleasure to meet you! I've been dying to meet you ever since Bog mentioned that his new job involved working for a pretty young woman!" Marianne slowly turned to face Bog (who's ears were once again red) with one of her eyebrows raised in a questioning manner and a smirk on her face. 

 "Mum! I said a worked for a woman! That's all I said! I didn't mention that she was pretty or young!" Bog shouted at his mother angrily. She had promised she wasn't going to do this! _Not surprising though_ , he thought to himself, exasperated. 

 After a few moments of silence Marianne spoke in a teasing tone "Soooo, you think I'm pretty, huh?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him and smirked again. 

 Bog sighed. "Shaddup. Let’s go shopping and get this torture over with", he grumbled. Marianne laughed and turned to face the front of the car again. 

 Griselda smiled and clasped her hands under her chin. _Finally!,_  she thought to herself as they pulled out of the driveway.

 

********

 

Shopping took  _forever_. Griselda had the time of her life dragging the two of them around to different shops making sure they each had attire fit for royalty, complete with all the trimmings. Bog was carrying several bags filled with clothing, shoes and accessories back to the car grumbling as he listened to the two of them chattering to each other. He was actually surprised that they were getting along so well. He smiled to himself until he heard exactly what his mother was talking about.

… “So she left him completely broken. He cried for a week, my poor Boggy, and then he swore off love forever. Hasn’t had a girlfriend or even a potential girlfriend since. He looks really tough, but he’s really just a big softy under that prickly exterior! He’s such a sweetie! You guys should go out on a date some time! You two would be just perfect together!”

“MOTHER!” Bog bellowed at the top of his lungs, causing both women to jump slightly. He glared fiercely at his mother while refusing to look at Marianne’s face. “I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t. Do. _This_.” Bog said through clenched teeth. Griselda flushed slightly and looked a little ashamed.

“I’m so sorry Bog. I just got carried away. I just want you to be happy and not die sad and alone!” She cried out, tears beginning to fill her dark beady eyes. Bog huffed in displeasure as he stuffed all the bags in the trunk and then he turned around to face her.

Bog hunched down to meet his mother’s face. “Mom, I don’t need your help. Just because I’m against love doesn’t mean I will die sad and alone! Besides,” he smiled softly at her, “I have you, remember?” She smiled at him slightly and then patted his cheek. As he wrapped her up in a soft hug she whispered into his ear, “I won’t be here forever honey. I can’t help but worry about you.” “I know”, he said softly.

“Come on, we have to get Marianne to her salon appointment this afternoon,” he said loudly enough for both of them to hear. He looked up at Marianne and she was just staring at him with an unreadable expression. After a moment the words “salon appointment” clicked and her face dropped into her usual grimace and she sighed grumpily and stomped over towards the car. He chuckled and followed her, his mother close to his side.


	6. Shots! Shots! Shots!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marianne and Bog bond over copious amounts of alcohol.

Bog sat in one of the bar's shabby booths this time, the one furthest from the entrance. He didn't want to have to talk to anyone. He barely spoke to the bar tender, just enough words and gestures needed to obtain a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass.

 Today had been a total disaster. He sighed heavily before throwing down another shot of the burning liquid.

 After he had dropped Marianne off at her office earlier this evening he had mumbled a lame excuse about being busy and unable to spar ( _"sorry, I...uh...have to help a friend...move tonight." Stupid. He had no friends_ ) and took off. It was the first time he had denied her and being after traditional 'working hours' she was unable to object.

 Questions swirled miserably through his head. _Why did his mom have to tell her everything? Why did she have to try to match them up? Why did Marianne have to look at him like that? Why did he have to feel this way?_ He attempted to drown them out with another shot.

  _Why does she have to be so hot? Why did I have to have that fucking dream?_ He thought bitterly. As the alcohol stared to relax him he leaned back in his seat, sighing. If he was being honest with himself, it wasn't just her looks that attracted him to her. She was rough, angry, blunt and sharp witted. She was an amazing fighter and emotionally damaged, just like him. She was the most amazing person he had ever met. She was beautiful. _I am pretty sure I love her, actually_ , he thought drunkenly to himself.

_**Fuck.**_

 He sighed again and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the back of the seat as he tried to get his brain to shut up.

 "Thought I might find you here." He jumped slightly and then opened his eyes to see Marianne slide into the seat across from him, grab his bottle of whiskey and pour herself a drink into the extra shot glass she procured from somewhere.

 After she tossed it back she smiled at him and he felt his heart stutter. She was wearing a form fitting black leather jacket over a dark colored shirt, her hair was sleek with pieces sticking out every which way at the nape of her neck and framing her face. Her eyes were darkened with smoky makeup and her lips were a deep purple, making her look dangerous.  She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

 He frowned at her and then grumbled "what are you doing here?"

 "Bog, I know you’re upset. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. So I thought I'd come check on you." Marianne's face scrunched up as her second shot burned down her throat.

 "I'm fine", he grumbled, staring down at his hands with a deep scowl on his face.

 "Oh, well that was completely convincing! What was I worried about?" Marianne said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

 Bog snorted and looked up to see her roll her eyes at him and then down another shot. When he raised his eyebrows at her questioningly she said "what? I'm trying to catch up to you! Friends don't let friends drink alone!"

 "We're friends?" bog asked, pouring himself another shot. "Yes, I think so. Don't you?" Bog opened his mouth to reply but she continued on "in fact, I'd say you are probably my only friend, now that I think about it. You're the only person I can really tolerate for extended periods of time, and that includes my sister." Bog chuckled and tossed back his shot.

 They were silent for a few moments. Marianne downed another shot, and then proclaimed "there! I think I'm tipsy enough to do this." He looked up at her and saw her take a deep breath, pause for a moment and blurted out "I had a bad breakup too. I figured you were upset because you didn't want me to know about yours but your mother told me so, I've decided to tell you about mine in an asinine attempt to make you feel better. Misery loves company after all."

 Bog again tried to speak, to let her know she didn't have to tell him anything, but she cut him off and put a hand up to silence him "I figured, that way we would be even and you might not kill your mom later because she seems like a nice lady." He gave up, leaned back and gestured for her to continue.

 "Okay, so you know the name Roland already, you've been asked to keep me from killing him a few times by my sister I think."

 Bog smiled crookedly in amusement. She was so violent for someone so tiny.

 “Well, Roland and I used to be together. We dated for a couple of years and then got engaged. I was so happy, so in love. I thought he was too." She sighed miserably, looking down at the table. Bog wanted to reach over and take her hands, to comfort her. Just as he lifted his hands, he realized what he was doing and stuffed them under the table.

 "So anyways, on the day of our wedding I rushed back to our place because I had forgotten my shoes. I had stayed with my sister that night, determined to keep the stupid tradition of not seeing each other on the day of the wedding until the ceremony. I had assumed he would be sleeping because he had had his bachelor party the night before and I could sneak in and grab them." Marianne paused for a moment and then began to wring her hands together as she continued. "I opened the door a-and he _was_ sleeping. In the middle of the living room. Naked. With my maid of honor, also naked.”

 Bog looked at Marianne in shock. _Someone would actually cheat on her?! What an idiot!_

 "I left without waking them, headed to the airport and took the first flight out of the city. I texted Dawn while I was taxiing down the runway letting her know that I was calling off the wedding I was going away for awhile. I had to keep checking in with Dawn so she wouldn’t freak out, but I mostly kept to remote areas so I didn’t have to talk to people. I didn't return to the city for 6 months, and by then I was such an angry person that Dawn didn’t know what to do with me. That’s why she hired you. To help me reintegrate with human beings and stuff. I think she hopes I’ll become less angry with time but I don’t see that happening any time soon,” Marianne said darkly.

 She stopped talking to take another shot and then shrugged, saying “aaaand that's my terrible breakup story. I've sworn off love ever since. Nothing is worth that kind of pain. I’ll never fall in love again."

 Marianne was quiet for a moment and then asked Bog, "so, feel better now?” with a huge goofy smile on her face.

 Bog laughed. "A little, now that you look happier. Wanna drink until we forget about our own names?"

 "Hell YES!" Marianne shouted back at him, her grin changing to one of excitement. “That’s the most sensible thing you’ve said all day. Down with love!" She said, raising her shot glass up in the air.

 "Down with love!" Bog agreed enthusiastically, clinking his glass into hers before they both downed their drinks in one gulp.


	7. So Fluffy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonding over booze. Much fluff. Very feels. :)

Marianne giggled as she slammed her shot glass down on the table and grinned widely at Bog. He smiled goofily back at her. "Whoa!" She shouted at him, putting both hands up in an exaggerated 'stop' signal. "We are out of booze!!" Bog clumsily grabbed the empty bottle and emptied the last few drops into his mouth. "Oh, crap! We ARE out of booze!!" He whined. They both looked at each other in horror. "Wait! I have the best idea EVER!" Marianne's expression turned to happy excitement. "What?" Bog yelled back at her (it really wasn't that loud and they were getting stared at by the other bar patrons, not that they noticed).

 " _ **I**_ have booze! Let’s go to my house! I have lots of booze!"

 "That is the best idea you have ever had!!" Bog grinned at her like she just solved world hunger.

 "I know, _right_!? Let’s go!"

 Bog hailed them a cab. Once they had collapsed inside the backseat and Marianne had given the cabbie her address they started chanting "Booze! Booze! Booze!" both excited to continue their little two person party. “Wait!” Marianne said as she pointed out the window, “We need sustenance!” They made the increasingly more irritated cabbie stop at a nearby pizza place where they picked up two large pizzas with the works and an order of screaming hot chicken wings. When they arrived Marianne thrust a few hundred dollar bills at the cab driver (whose eyes bugged out as she said “No change, thanks!”) and they stumbled through her front door.

 Bog followed her through the house, both of them leaving a trail of jackets and shoes in their wake. "Check out my sweet bar! I've got like everything worth drinking. Help yourself!" Marianne smiled proudly as she gestured towards her large professional looking bar. "Whoa! I didn't know you had this. It’s amazing!” Bog said in an impressed tone as he put the food on the bar. He cracked open his pizza box as Marianne went around the bar and grabbed two cold beers out of the fridge.

 After they had eaten and drank a couple of beers each Marianne stood up, and announced “we are totally doing karaoke now!” She grabbed his hand and dragged him to her basement. "You have a karaoke machine?" Bog asked her, allowing himself to be tugged down the stairs. "Yes! What's the point of being rich if you don't buy yourself sweet stuff?! Come on!" As she moved through the room she started flipping lights on and then began whipping clear plastic off of an assortment of electronics. Bog just stared in awe. There was a small stage with spotlights pointed at it, a Microphone in the middle of it and a professional karaoke machine to one side of it. The lyrics screen was built right into the floor and there were a few tables and couches scattered around the stage, like a place that you would pay to go to. “Ta Da!” Marianne announced, gesturing towards the stage like a presenter.

 "Holy crap, Marianne! This place looks like a real Karaoke bar!"

 "Yeah, well I used to spend time with other people back in the day and I like to sing." She said as she started turning on the equipment. "Let's DO this! Marianne declared loudly, heading up to the stage while Bog laughed and thrust his fists in the air and returned her enthusiasm with a booming “woo hoo!”

 Marianne punched in the song she wanted to sing, and pressed a lever on the floor that made the lights dim. She stood in front of the microwave and struck a seductive pose.

 The first few notes of "Since You've Been Gone", by Kelly Clarkson started up and Bog sat down at one of the tables with his beer and whistled.

 Marianne began to sing while while swaying her hips to the beat:

"Here's the thing we started out friends

It was cool but it was all pretend

Yeah yeah

Since U Been Gone  
  
You dedicated you took the time

Wasn't long till I called you mine

Yeah Yeah

Since U Been Gone  
  
And all you'd ever hear me say

Is how I pictured me with you

That's all you'd ever hear me say  
  
But Since U Been Gone

I can breathe for the first time

I'm so moving on

Yeah, yeah

Thanks to you

Now I get

What I want

Since U Been Gone"

…

 After the song finished she took an extravagant bow as Bog clapped and cheered in approval of her performance.

 She hopped off the stage and ran over to where Bog was sitting. “Okay mister, your turn!” She pulled him up and pushed him towards the stage.

 Bog stumbled up to the stage and started going through the list of songs. He stopped at one and smirked, punched in the song number and walked up to the microphone. Before the song started he solemnly dedicated the song. “This one is dedicated to Miranda, where ever you might be, this one is for you.” Marianne raised her eyebrows question, not knowing who Miranda was.

 The song started up and Marianne didn’t recognize it at first, but started laughing really hard once she heard him start singing it.

 “Met a girl, thought she was grand

Fell in love, found out first hand

 Went well for a week or twooooo

Then it all came ungluuuuuued

In a trapped trip I can’t grip

Never thought I’d be the one who’d sliiiip

Then I started to realiiize

I was living one big lie

 She fucking hates me

Trust she fucking hates me

La la la love!

 ….

 Once he finished she cheered and banged on the table “Bog, Bog, Bog!” she chanted. He bowed towards her and then began looking at the song list again.

 “Ooh!  Here’s one we should both do!” Bog said excitedly, punching in the numbers while waving her up to the stage quickly. She jumped up to join him and then laughed when she saw the screen. “Perfect!” she said with mirth still in her voice.

 They began to sing together:

 

 Marianne: You love her

 Bog: But she loves him

 Marianne: And he loves somebody else

 Bog:  You just can’t win

 Marianne:  And so it goes

 Bog: Till the Day you die

 Marianne: This thing they call love

 Bog: It’s going to make you cry

 Marianne: I’ve had the blues

 Bog: The reds and the pinks

 Marianne:  One thing for sure

 They sang the chorus together:

 “ Love Stinks

Love Stinks! Yeah yeah

Love Stinks

Love Stinks! Yeah yeah”

 ….

 At the end of the song they laughed as they stumbled off the stage and collapsed on one of the leather couches together. Marianne was wiping tears from her eyes from laughing so hard. “That was so much fun! I haven’t done that in so long!” Bog smiled at her sloppily. “I had fun too! Thanks for having me over for this. I don’t have much time for fun anymore ever since it became my responsibility to take care of my mum when my dad passed. That and I don’t really have any friends”, Bog muttered quietly. Bog jumped as Marianne’s clapped her hand on to one of his cheeks a little too hard to be comforting. “Come on now, Bog! I’m your friend! Remember? In fact, you are probably my best friend at the moment.” She smiled at him. “We can both be miserable and alone together!” Marianne declared, holding her hand out for him to shake. Bog chuckled and took her hand and shook it firmly. As they grinned at each other Marianne yawned widely, causing Bog to yawn too.

 “Come on, let’s go to bed. I’m tired.” Marianne said as she slowly rose from the couch and stretched her arms over her head. A drunken Bog thought that was a great idea. He was pretty tired. He looked at his phone. It was 3:43am. No _wonder_ he was tired. He stumbled after her, rubbing his blurry eyes.

 They headed up to her bedroom and she wandered into her closet, stripping her clothes off as she went. Bog gulped as his feelings suddenly rushed to the forefront of his spinning mind. He sat down on the edge of her bed, put his head in his hands and sighed heavily. Damn, why did he have to ruin everything by having feelings for her? Well he just won’t he thought firmly to himself. He vowed never to tell her how he felt. He was an adult; he could be friends with her. _Best friends_ , he thought fondly regarding their conversation minutes ago. He could do that. He refused to ruin this.

 Marianne came out in a long t-shirt that came down past her knees. “Bring It!” was written across the front with a picture of boxing gloves underneath the words. He chuckled under his breath. She stopped in front of him. “You’re wearing your clothes to bed? Isn’t that uncomfortable?” Bog stuttered for a moment and then Marianne just reached out for him and began lifting his shirt up. “Here, let me help you. I didn’t realize you were that wasted”; she snickered as she lifted his shirt over his head. She began reaching for his pants but he quickly put his hands over his belt first. “It’s alright, I got the pants.” He glanced at her panicked but she only replied with a soft “Okay”. She sighed sleepily and then she crawled in to the bed beside him. He undid his pants and took his socks off. He crawled in beside her in only his boxers and pulled the blankets up over them. He rolled over to face her only to see her staring back at him with sleepy eyes, a soft smile on her lips. His stomach clenched at the sight of her laying next to him in bed, smiling. God she was beautiful.

 “Good night, Bog”, Marianne whispered.

 “Good Night, Marianne”

 She smiled and her eyes drifted closed.

 …”Oh, Marianne?” 

 “Hmm?”

 “You’re my best friend too, you know.”

 She opened her eyes again to look at him, smile still on her face. She reached a hand out to him and he took it. She squeezed it and then her eyes drifted close again.

 

They fell asleep together, holding hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fixed the lyrics for Marianne's first song. :)
> 
> Songs References: 
> 
> Since You've Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson. Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/kellyclarkson/sinceubeengone.html 
> 
> She Fucking Hates Me by Puddle of Mud. Lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSvKliG4ZBU 
> 
> Love Stinks by J Giels Band. Lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDTGmFAPhrs


	8. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One word. Awkward.

Bog woke up slowly. When he tried to open his eyes pain shot through his head and he quickly closed them again. As he tried to move a little his whole body protested. He felt nauseous and had a throbbing headache. _What happened last night?_ Bog wondered to himself for a minute. He tried recalling what he had done last night. He remembered going to the bar to drink his sorrows away and then Marianne had shown up unexpectedly. There had been lots of shots, he remembered that. _Eventually there had been singing, right?_ He remembered singing karaoke with Marianne and cringed internally. He was never going to live that down. She would mock him relentlessly at work today. Wondering what time it was, Bog started to lean over to grab his phone on his night stand and instead grabbed what felt like an arm. Puzzled, he felt the small arm up to a shoulder and then his eyes snapped open as he remembered the rest of the evening. _Crap!_ He thought anxiously as he snatched his hand back from Marianne’s sleeping form. _I slept here! We cuddled!_ Bog thought his heart beating rapidly with nervousness for a moment, before the last conversation they had splashed over him like cold water:

  _“Come on now, Bog! I’m your friend! Remember? In fact, you are probably my best friend at the moment.” Marianne had said._

_“You’re my best friend too, you know.”_

Bog frowned. _We are friends, nothing more. I shouldn’t get my hopes up._ He sighed and watched Marianne sleep for a few minutes, not wanting to move for other reasons besides his horrible hangover.

As he watched her she began to twitch slightly and then started mumbling in her sleep. Fascinated, Bog watched, wondering if he would be able to make out any words.

 “…Mmm...Bog…yes…” Marianne mumbled, causing his eyes to widen in disbelief. She was dreaming about him? His heartbeat quickened and he could feel his face warm slowly as he watched her sleep.

 “…yes!...right there…” she mumbled again, as she moved her hands down to her breasts unconsciously. _Holy fuck-shit!_ He thought. It sounded and looked like she was having a sexual dream about him! His face was burning and the sounds of her moans made a stab of desire throb through his groin, making his morning hard on even firmer.

 “Oh yeah….I’m going to….Oh!...” Marianne shouted as she arched up slightly from the bed, her eyes snapping open. Bog thought that he was going to burst right there. _This is the hottest thing I have ever seen!_ He thought to himself, as Marianne sat up quickly in bed before grabbing her head in both her hands and groaning.

 “God. I feel terrible. I’m never drinking again.” She moaned, flopping back down on her pillow.

She rolled over to face Bog and then opened her eyes which promptly widened in surprise. “What happened? What’s going on?” She asked while staring at his face in confusion. Bog’s face was flushed bright red and his mouth was hanging open. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Marianne asked uncomfortably, unsure if she actually wanted to know the answer. She had just woken up from the best dream, and if she had talked in her sleep… _Oh God!_ She thought to herself while she was waiting for Bog to respond.

 Realizing that she expected a response from him, Bog’s mouth snapped shut and he coughed a couple times to clear his throat. “Umm…well…you were t-talking… in your sleep.” He got out anxiously, while rubbing the back of his neck.

 Marianne just stared at him for a moment, before she began to turn bright red. “Yeah…I do that sometimes…I have to shower!” She jumped up from the bed quickly, stopping to grab her head for a moment before heading into her bathroom to shower.

 Bog gaped at the closed door after Marianne had made her escape. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He needed to shower also, but there was no way he was going to wait for her to come out dripping in a skimpy towel. He’d probably jump her… _Hell! I have to get out of here!_ Bog bolted out of her bed, dressed quickly in his clothing from last night, grabbed his phone and ran downstairs. He grabbed his shoes and jacket and bolted. After he had managed to grab a taxi he grabbed his phone and texted Marianne so she wouldn’t think he ran out on her.

 Bog: Headed home to shower. Let me know when you need me to come in.

 He didn't hear back for a while. About an hour later he got a text back.

 Marianne: K. Take a few days off. I’ll let you know about work.

 Bog: K.

 He sighed and let his head fall back onto the back of his couch. _That was **so** awkward_ , he thought to himself. _Oh well, we can talk about it in a few days, have a few boxing matches to clear up the tension and then everything will be back to normal._ He got up from the couch and dragged himself into the kitchen to find painkillers and water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short. The next one will be longer, and all angsty!


End file.
